Amended in Assembly April 9, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2058

Introduced by Assembly Member Wilk

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Hagman and Harkey)

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(Coauthor: Senator DeSaulnier)

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(Coauthors: Senators DeSaulnier, Gaines, and Vidak)

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February 20, 2014

An act to amend Section 11121 of the Government Code, relating to state government, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2058, as amended, Wilk. Open meetings.

The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires that all meetings of a state body, as defined, be open and public and that all persons be permitted to attend and participate in any meeting of a state body, subject to certain conditions and exceptions.

This bill would modify the definition of “state body” to exclude an advisory body with less than 3 individuals, except for certain standing committees. begin delete This bill would also make legislative findings and declarations in this regard. end delete

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The unpublished decision of the Third District Court of
Appeals in Funeral Security Plans v. State Board of Funeral
Directors (1994) 28 Cal. App.4th 1470 is an accurate reflection of
legislative intent with respect to the applicability of the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with
Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code) (Bagley-Keene Act) to a two-member
standing advisory committee of a state body. A two-member
standing committee of a state body, even if operating solely in an
advisory capacity, already is a “state body,” as defined in
subdivision (d) of Section 11121 of the Government Code,
irrespective of its size, if a member of the state body sits on the
committee and the committee receives funds from the state body.
For this type of two-member standing advisory committee, this
bill is declaratory of existing law.

(b) A two-member standing committee of a state body, even if
operating solely in an advisory capacity, already is a “state body,”
as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 11121 of the Government
Code, irrespective of its composition, if it exercises any authority
of a state body delegated to it by that state body. For this type of
two-member standing advisory committee, this bill is declaratory
of existing law.

(c) All two-member standing advisory committees of a local
body are subject to open meeting requirements under the Ralph
M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of
Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code) (Brown
Act). It is the intent of the Legislature in this act to reconcile
language in the Brown Act and Bagley-Keene Act with respect to
all two-member standing advisory committees, including, but not
limited to, those described in subdivisions (a) and (b).

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

Section 11121 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

11121.  

As used in this article, “state body” means each of the
following:

(a) Every state board, or commission, or similar multimember
body of the state that is created by statute or required by law to
conduct official meetings and every commission created by
executive order.

(b) A board, commission, committee, or similar multimember
body that exercises any authority of a state body delegated to it by
that state body.

(c) An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory
committee, advisory subcommittee, or similar multimember
advisory body of a state body, if created by formal action of the
state body or of any member of the state body. begin delete Advisory bodies end delete
begin insert An advisory body end insert created to consist of fewer than three individuals
begin delete are end delete begin insert is end insert not a state body, except that begin insert a end insert standing begin delete committees end delete begin insert committee end insert
of a state body, irrespective of begin delete their end delete begin insert its end insert composition, which begin delete have end delete
begin insert has end insert a continuing subject matter jurisdiction, or a meeting schedule
fixed by resolution, policies, bylaws, or formal action of a state
body begin delete are end delete begin insert is a end insert state begin delete bodies end delete begin insert body end insert for the purposes of this chapter.

(d) A board, commission, committee, or similar multimember
body on which a member of a body that is a state body pursuant
to this section serves in his or her official capacity as a
representative of that state body and that is supported, in whole or
in part, by funds provided by the state body, whether the
multimember body is organized and operated by the state body or
by a private corporation.

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This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to avoid unnecessary litigation and ensure the people’s
right to access of the meetings of public bodies pursuant to Section
3 of Article 1 of the California Constitution, it is necessary that
act take effect immediately.